Abstract
The Tohoku Medical Megabank (TMM) project advances DOHaD research, studying how prenatal and early postnatal environmental factors influence health via DNA methylation in adulthood. A correction method for cellular composition bias in DNA methylation analysis of newborn umbilical cord blood was established based on whole epigenome analysis of nucleated red blood cells from 15 newborns. The methylation status of 92 umbilical cord blood samples, excluding perinatal disease cases, has been analyzed, supporting predictions of fetal epigenetic alterations. The analyzed cord blood epigenomic information is available in the iMETHYL database. Furthermore, ongoing research on DNA methylation in 158 three-generation families and 60 sets of identical twins within the TMM cohort could elucidate DOHaD's molecular mechanisms and environmental transgenerational impacts on health.
